Courses

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About NUI Galway

Since 1845, NUI Galway has been sharing the highest quality teaching and research with Ireland and the world. Find out what makes our University so special – from our distinguished history to the latest news and campus developments.

Contact Details

Biography

I completed my doctoral studies under Professor John Dyson at the University of Manchester,
following him to the University of Leeds. A new model for one of the earliest manifestations of the
birth of the most massive stars was developed. Upon graduation I moved back to the Jodrell Bank Observatory at the University of Manchester as a
postdoctoral fellow with Professor John Meaburn. Using instruments installed on the Anglo-
Australian Telescope, led to the discovery of highly explosive outbursts in objects known as
Planetary Nebula, which had previously been thought to evolve in a steady fashion. This was
followed by the discovery of evidence for sequential, nested supernova explosions in two peculiar
objects, the Pencil Nebula and the Honeycomb Nebula.

Moving on to work with Professor Jonathan Rawlings, at University College London I broadened
my research into the formation of sun-like stars and in collaboration with Dr Eric Keto in Harvard,
we employed a state of the art 3D radiative transfer code to decode the complex line appearance of
star forming regions. A more advanced code than previously used, coupled with observations from
the James Clark Maxwell Telescope in Hawaii led to the realisation that complex appearance of
these regions can be explained by a simple underlying geometry, viewed from different angles. An IRCSET postdoctoral fellowship at the Dublin Institute for Advanced Studies (where I remain a
Research Associate) was followed by a faculty appointment at NUIG in 2004.

My research
programmes now bring together the themes of star formation and star destruction and I have studied
how low mass star formation can proceed in the vicinity of violent massive stars. A recently new
research theme, inspired by the widespread discovery of exoplanets, is to investigate the effects of
the destruction of planets on the evolution of sun-like stars as they evolve to form (coincidentally,
and confusingly misnamed!) planetary nebulae, the shaping of which are not understood. This work
has been well supported by grants for PhD students and a postdoctoral researcher.

Research Interests

Star and planet formation; Planetary nebulae; Supernova remnants

We use observational, theoretical and numerical techniques to observe and model the star formation process.

We also study star destruction processes through phenomena such as planetary nebulae and supernova remnants.

'CO abundances in a protostellar cloud: freeze-out and desorption in the envelope and outflow of L483'
Carolan, PB,Redman, MP,Keto, E,Rawlings, JMC (2008) 'CO abundances in a protostellar cloud: freeze-out and desorption in the envelope and outflow of L483'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 383 :705-712 [DOI][ARAN Link] [Details]

'The kinematics of the large western knot in the halo of the young planetary nebula NGC 6543'
Mitchell, DL,Bryce, M,Meaburn, J,Lopez, JA,Redman, MP,Harman, D,Richer, MG,Riesgo, H (2005) 'The kinematics of the large western knot in the halo of the young planetary nebula NGC 6543'. Monthly Notices Of The Royal Astronomical Society, 362 :1286-1294 [DOI] [Details]

The origin of the strings in the outer regions of Eta Carinae. Eta Carinae and Other Mysterious Stars: The Hidden Opportunities of Emission Spectroscopy, ASP Conference Proceedings.
Redman, M., Meaburn, J. (2001) The origin of the strings in the outer regions of Eta Carinae. Eta Carinae and Other Mysterious Stars: The Hidden Opportunities of Emission Spectroscopy, ASP Conference Proceedings. Conference Paper [Details]

(2000)

The new generation of ionization and recombination fronts. Highlights of Astronomy Presented at the XXIVth General Assembly of the IAU.
Dyson, J. E., Hartquist, T. W., Williams, R. J. R., Redman, M. P. (2000) The new generation of ionization and recombination fronts. Highlights of Astronomy Presented at the XXIVth General Assembly of the IAU. Conference Paper [Details]

Workshops

Year

Publication

(2004)

Molecular line emission and the initial conditions of star formation. Young European Radio Astronomers Conference.
Redman,M.P. (2004) Molecular line emission and the initial conditions of star formation. Young European Radio Astronomers Conference. Cork, Ireland: Workshops [Details]

Recent Postgraduate Students

Graduation

Name

Degree

Primary Supervisor

2009

Robert Loughnane

PhD

Y

2009

Patrick Carolan

PhD

Y

2014

Brandon Wiles

PhD

Y

Current Postgraduate Students (Research)

Student

Degree Type

Type

Eamonn Harvey

Doctorate - Structured PhD (Science)

Supervisor

Laura Boyle

Doctorate - Structured PhD (Science)

Supervisor

Nevenoe Guegan

Masters - Research - Master of Science

Supervisor

James Barrett

Doctorate - Structured PhD (Science)

Supervisor

Niall Clyne

Doctorate - Structured PhD (Science)

Supervisor

Aonghus Mullins

Doctorate - Structured PhD (Science)

Supervisor

Modules Taught

Term/Year

Module Title

Module Code

Subject / Desc

Semester 1

Computational Physics

PH334

Semester 1

Mechanics

PH216

Semester 1

Astrophysics

PH466

Semester 1

Special Topics in Physics

PH109

External Collaborators

Name

Organisation / Institute

Country

Description of Collaboration

Jonathan Rawlings

University College London

UNITED KINGDOM

7 papers published together

Eric Keto

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astronomy

U.S.A.

6 papers published together

John Meaburn

University of Manchester

UNITED KINGDOM

23 papers published together

Maria Cunnigham

University of New South Wales

AUSTRALIA

4 papers published together

About NUI Galway

Founded in 1845, we've been inspiring students for 170 years. NUI Galway has earned international recognition as a research led university with a commitment to top quality teaching.

CONTACT

National University of Ireland
Galway,
University Road,
Galway, Ireland
T. +353 91 524411